Kurt Warner Talks Jameis Winston; “We’ve Seen Those Guys In The Past”

September 13th, 2019

This afternoon, Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner got cornered on live radio by his NFL Network colleague Rich Eisen.

The subject was America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston.

Now Warner has long taken an interest in Jameis the man and the football player. He coached up Jameis personally last month and Joe knows the two have spent plenty of time together off the field in religious and other settings.

Eisen said he was going to play sports radio guy and asked Warner to pick between Jameis and Marcus Mariota. Which QB would he want?

Joe was intrigued listening to how a legendary quarterback views Jameis, one who is paying attention and wasn’t talking in sound bites.

“I’m probably takin’ Jameis because I’ve seen more upside from him as a passer,” Warner said. “The bottom line with Jameis is he makes a lot of plays on the football field, but he makes too many mistakes at critical times. He hasn’t been able to delineate between what is a good risk to take and what’s a bad risk to take. We’ve seen those guys in the past. The great ones figure that out as they go. And then they make all these plays and yeah, they make a mistake here or there, but they make way more plays than they make mistakes. And then the guys that are just average even though they’re talented are the guys that never figure that out. They give you one great performance and the next one’s awful, and then another good performance and the next one’s awful. And that’s really where he’s been; he’s been a roller coaster the entire time. But I’ve seen more from him passing-wise then with Marcus [Mariota].”

Well said.

Jameis is inconsistent and talented and maddening and exhilarating — typically all in the same three- or four-game window.

A Bucs fan asked Joe this week what Jameis would have to do to return next season. Joe’s simple answer was make sure 75 percent of his games graded somewhere between solid and spectacular. If Jameis did that, then he could get away with four clunkers and still get a sixth Buccaneers season. On that scale, Jameis has a 1-1 record along with the Bucs.

62 Responses to “Kurt Warner Talks Jameis Winston; “We’ve Seen Those Guys In The Past””

  1. Koryc Says:

    Definitely not trying to compare him to a hall of famer, but a lot of fans and critics wanted to strangle Favre for his idiocies from game to game play to play. Give him a chance to grow and learn. He’s had crappy coaching for four years. Just sayin..

  2. Jonathan Limpchimpi Says:

    The ultimate conundrum will be JW and his future moving forward. Good quarterbacks are extremely tough to find…and afford.

  3. Pete Says:

    I’m rooting for Jameis!
    Go Bucs!!!

  4. danr Says:

    the clunkers would have to be in the first half to quarter of the season.

    The more front loaded they are the less seriously they would be taken to be HIS fault and not ‘learning a new system’.

  5. Greg Says:

    JW had a good game and that is all we need IMO. There is no questioning his football IQ and preparation. When he is in fight or flight mode is when he makes poor decisions. That is his history. Not sure coaching can change that as it is between his ears to react differently and he has not shown an ability to improve on that. If he can accept he just needs to be good the offense could be enough to allow this defense to win a lot of games.

  6. danr Says:

    there is a lot of reason to question his football iq.

  7. JimmyJack Says:

    Yuck Joe 4 clunkers does not sound very encouraging. If they are as bad as San Fran that’ll be tough to swallow. Now if he run into a tough defense and has an ineffective day that’s much easier to deal with. I guess a lot depends on context.

    He held us back from winning in his first clunker. Your QB can’t lose you 25% of the season. That don’t sound good enough to me.

  8. Bucnjim Says:

    With the league in full QB protection mode I’d like to see Winston run a little more. Not crazy but when things break down get a couple yards and slide. Better than throwing it up for grabs and hoping one of our guys comes down with it. There will never be someone open every play so how you handle that will be a big part in whether you are successful or not.

  9. BucEmUp Says:

    Leftwich will cost this team the season just like Mike Smith did every.year. The offense and defense have changed places. The one that had crap coaching has great coaching and the one that moved the chains cant.

    Arians for playcalling or bust

  10. Stanglassman Says:

    If Jameis really had as many bad games as he had good I’d completely agree with Kirt’s assessment but that’s clearly not the case. Jameis will make a handful of boneheaded plays and a couple of bad games per season and the media amplifies the heck out of them. I’d say on a season average Jameis has 6-7 great games 1-3 stinkers and the rest are okay to very good. Does Jameis need to eliminate those bad games? Sure as much as possible and you do that by being able to run the ball, dialing back the lower percentage passes and build a defense that you can rely on. That’s what BA is doing.

  11. Bucsace Says:

    Jameis looked better last night, now, can he keep up the good work?

  12. Buc believer Says:

    Jameis CAN keep it up IF Bruce does the play calling. If he doesn’t we will be looking for a new QB and probably a new coach. Sorry Leftwich may be up and coming but we can’t have on the job training right now.

  13. TouchDownTampaBay Says:

    Stanglassman – that is a very accurate assessment. We have a lot of haters as fans and they focus on and amplify the negatives and ignore the positives. Jameis has a lot more good games than bad. Like you said too, 6-7 of them he plays like one of the elite QBs in the league. Last night was one of his mediocre games. When he plays fearless is when he plays lights out, but that is when he also has some nightmarish games too. I could take 2-3 poor games a season, especially if 13 of them were games where Jameis was at the top of his game. He may have to play as a game manager like he was last night until he gains the confidence of management, coaches, the fans, and himself.

  14. Jawo75 Says:

    The defense won the game. And Mariota has seen the playoffs in person. Not from the couch like Jamoist. #NoPlayoffs

  15. Adrnagy Says:

    There was growth against the panthers for bryon and Jameis. If bucs find a groove and sync acouple games we might have a winning formula. I like we kept running the game
    I was surprise the first play was Jameis pass completion. Shows the coaches have confidence. I was thinking two runs
    I do think Jameis will improve. He’s seeing a defense and run game. Versus him vomiting passes.

  16. Buc1987 Says:

    14 more games to go.

  17. FortMyersDave Says:

    Good points Joe. What Eisen says makes sense but you have to admit that Jameis would also be a better option over Ryan Leif, Tim Couch, Sam Bradford and other high first round qbs who never lived up to his expectations. Jameis has always shown potential but he also makes way too many blunders on the field and everytime you think you can trust him, he goes and has a game like the SF opener or last year’s Cincy debacle.

  18. miken Says:

    208 yards and 0 turnovrs… great job #3

  19. TheDood Says:

    “Give him a chance to grow and learn.”?

    Really? He’s in year #5. You can’t hang his performance on the haters. It’s on him. Yeah, he’s had some bad coaching, crappy running game, bad D, etc.

    It’s ridiculous to say a guy who has had 64 NFL games to get his act together needs “a chance to grown and learn.”

    This is his last chance and he has a revitalized D and RB. It’s on JW to get his act together this season.

  20. Tval Says:

    Kurt had Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, and perhaps the most underrated wideout in football history, mr torry Holt. Kurt didn’t have to do much aside from get rid of the ball in an offense the league hadn’t seen. He was a VERY fortunate guy but a very good player too. Torry makes Mike look pedestrian and soft overall. Those receivers were ALWAYS in the right place and caught EVERYTHING in their radius.

  21. Rodney Munch Says:

    Shutup you grocery bag boy non-HOF’er.

    Winston has made very very few mistakes when they’ve been tied or up in the 4th- in fact I can’t really think of any outside the INT in OT in the Cleveland game. He’s played with the worst defense in football since he’s been here, and when the opponent has scored 20 or less, he’s now up to 15-4.

    Give him a good defense, and he’s solid. He didn’t play well in week 1, but as Arian’s pointed out, he made maybe one bad play all day, and even with that he took it back after watching the film. Last night Winston was solid – he was pretty clearly playing very conservative and tight in particular early on, but that game @Panthers is always a mess, so it made sense.

    Next week versus the Giants, assuming we have good weather, I think that should be a breakout game for the offense. Hopefully that is the case – and if you’re not hoping for that, you’re a d-bag.

  22. Phred Says:

    Give Jameis eight games with BA. If there’s a positive trend/line, Bucs are in good shape for a solid playoff run next season. If not, grab Clemson’d QB in the draft.

  23. Im tired and 87 is right Says:

    I think Jameis is starting to realize he can rely on his defense now which will play huge dividends in what type of throws he forces. With each game I see him gaining more and more confidence. Jameis cannot lose faith in his teammates, and trust the system, and the throws for when they are there. Go Bucs!

  24. Jean Lafitte Says:

    I’m rooting for the Bucs. Jameis is a part of the Bucs, so by default I’m rooting for Jameis, but if he gets demoted I’m rooting for the next one up whether it be Gabbert or Griffin. I’m not beholden to an average QB and right now no-one can convince me he’s more than average. It appears for us to win he needs for everything to be perfect around him. Wait till he gets paid and we have to sacrifice other talent for lack of funds. The world around him won’t be as perfect anymore and the supporting cast will decline in talent but the excuses for losing will always be the same tired argument. Jameis, rightful or not, can save himself.

  25. Ed Says:

    Jameis did enough to win that’s all that counts, he didn’t lose this game nor did the offense look particularly crisp, again he didn’t make any bad plays other than that 11 yard sack. Two well thrown touchdown passes to Evan and Perriman were plays those guys didn’t make. I vans didn’t lay out and Perriman whiffed on the ball. Where did OJ Howard disappear to. I like that Godwin is getting open and Winston is finding him. Howard is a freak athelete and has to get more touches, more targets. I hope he was inspired by a truly hurt Greg Ols n making play after play. The defensive line looks like it will be tough to run on. Bottle up Barkley and tee off on Manning. Barrett is the physical edge rusher that Spence never was.

  26. DooshLaRue Says:

    Ah Joe, you cropped that pic of Jaboo.
    You don’t like the chunky look?

  27. Defense Rules Says:

    This whole ‘Good Jameis – Bad Jameis’ conundrum has gotten humorous. After Game 1 just about everyone in Bucsville (and nationally) was ready to throw Jameis to the lions. After Game 2 it’s that he just ‘needs more time to learn and grow’. Really? Isn’t that kinda the very definition of inconsistent? Three reasons Joe why your ‘75% Good Jameis will be good enough’ argument doesn’t hold water:

    Reason #1: Thursday night’s gameplan was not really unique; it was a throwback to John McKay & Tony Dungy days. Our offense had the ball for 13 drives (same as the Panthers) and scored 2 TDs & 2 FGs on 4 of those. Bingo – 20 points in 33:53 mins TOP. Grand total of 16 first downs (9 passing, 6 rushing, 1 penalties). 2-for-12 in 3rd down efficiency. Total of 31 rushes & 25 passes (plus 3 sacks) … well over 50% rushing. Jameis was 3-for-8 on deep passes for 83 yds total … Godwin 22 yds; Evans 41 yds; Godwin 20 yds for the TD … all in the first half). Jameis did much better on his short passes ( 13-for-17) and yardage on those totaled 125 yds (almost 10 yds per reception).

    Our rushing was persistent, but certainly nothing spectacular. 31 rushes for 100 yds (3.2 YPC … reminiscent of last year?). But it … and the short passing completions … were enough to own the clock (34 mins TOP). And that, combined with ZERO turnovers, gives you a VERY GOOD chance of winning the game.

    Reason #2: Our defense played spectacularly IMO in only giving up 12 points … 4 FGs (offense owns the 2-point safety). Fortunately we’re still quite healthy on the defensive side (as compared to the past several years) AND we’ve got much better depth so we can keep starters ‘fresher’ and compensate when injuries do occur (like Devin’s knee? … Kevin Minter stepped in and didn’t miss a beat). IMO it’s unrealistic to expect a defense to only allow 12 points per game (our SB team allowed 12.3 PPG in the regular season & is considered to be one of the Top-10 defenses of all-time).

    Reason #3: Jameis next year will cost the Bucs $30 mil plus if we franchise-tag him. If we don’t, his next contract would probably cost us in that vicinity or someone else will pay it. That’s roughly one-sixth of the salary Cap that EVERY TEAM in the NFL is authorized. Teams that pay their QBs THAT TYPE OF MONEY have every expectation that their QB will be a difference-maker because it means skimping someplace else. Outside pass rush? Top-tier RB? Sorry, no money for those types of frivolities.

    Sorry Joe, but I expect more from the Bucs offense. It feels great when we win I know, but folks shouldn’t let that lessen our expectations. We’ve got a very tough schedule coming up, and we NEED our offense to produce more points if we expect to continue winning. INMO Good Jameis 75% of the time doesn’t cut it. If he’s gonna be used as a ‘game manager’ then we NEED much better consistency than that.

  28. Pittsshore Says:

    We won Thursday in spite of having JW as a starting QB He did play as we need him, and that is a game manager. Thank God Luke Kuechly dropped that sure interception in the second half. I do like how he has been coached up to run with the ball with both hands securely on the ball.

  29. DooshLaRue Says:

    Very, very well stated DR.

  30. Bob in Valrico Says:

    Four clunkers may get him franchised for a year. That is eerily similar to his last four years. I really don’t think that should be the goal. 1 or 2 bad games a year could easily get him another contract. THat said bad games are one thing ,but
    IMO Jameis needs to reduce the clunkers because they have led to disastrous
    losses and the rest of the team often plays down to that level.

  31. adam from ny Says:

    jameis is becoming more of a piece of the team as opposed to the leader or face of the franchise…there’s been a shift and he knows it…thus he mentioned he “managed the game” on national tv…the whisperer is whisping in jaboo’s ear “it’s not all on you broheim”…

    #WhispAwayAndGrabHisLobe

  32. ITS ABOUT TIME !! Says:

    jw is not worth 30 million in 2020 …..he is average at best…..unfortunately who do we replace him with …. i would like to see ryan griffan play a couple of games….

  33. BigHog Says:

    We won BIGGLEY and that’s all you people need to know!!

  34. BigHog Says:

    There are times when the QB has to game manager…not all defenses in this league are weak! As QB you have a game plan going in and when the game starts, you take what you are given!!

  35. RustyRhinos Says:

    The real Question Rich should have asked Kurt is, if it was your Money would you sign Winston to a long term contract as he is now. Not who he might learn to become. Because as a Bucs fan, as he is now year 5, still making rookie mistakes. I find it difficult to think year six, seven, eight, nine. Will be any different than what we have seen the previous four seasons. Lots of yards, TD’s, INT and fumbles. Not enough Wins. And Wins are the only metric that really matter.
    Missourian here SHOW ME! Don’t talk, don’t tell us how you are going to get better “next game” or “soon” SHOW ME game after game play after play that you have learned something from all those early mornings at your office. As it is in two games we seen a good game by Winston, 0 INT’s 0 fumbles and a very bad game 3 INT’s 2 fumbles. The up and down play needs to end. And Yes Farve had those too. But Winston is not Farve.
    Go Bucs!

  36. Buc4life Says:

    TWO GAMES IN A NEW SYSTEM. It takes an offense time to get comfortable and figure out what plays work. If these same players were in our old system we would be scoring more points. It is a process learning a new system. Give Leftwich and Jameis a chance. So many of you armchair coaches are not realistic thinking the offense should be great right now. Aaron Rodgers was off last week in his first week of a new offense. Should he be cut?

  37. TexBuc Says:

    Winston is up and down, but BA see upside so does Tom Moore and now Warner sees upside.

    With my armchair GM/HC hat on I see upside so my vote is to let it play out then decide when the season ends. I just do not want another Steve Young again when he was here I saw no upside and was happy to see him go then I regretted trading him.

  38. Bob in Valrico Says:

    To put things in perspective, one of the best game managers in the league is Alex Smith,IMO. Before his injury he had gotten his team in the playoffs for the last three years. He was making about the same salary as Jameis is this year. He had ten or more wins in those years. For me any justification for a francihse tag or
    extended contract would be hard to justify until we get to the playoffs.

  39. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    There is no way that Winston will be worth $30 million next year unless he lights it up and we go at least 8-8…even then $30 is a stretch.
    $30 mil is for elite QBs who have performed consistently on a high level.
    If he is franchised, that would mean that there is still uncertainty going forward…..this year was to measure Jameis…..not next year.
    We need to seriously think about making a change….if we have a very high draft pick, that will mean he likely didn’t perform.
    Save the $30 for other players and move on.

  40. Hodad Says:

    The 2015 draft is over, we don’t have to pick between MM, and JW unless MM becomes a FA. What we’ll have to decide at seasons end is do we give JW a new contract, franchise him, move on, or a combination of all the above. Depending on our record with a lot of good QB’s coming out it might not hurt to draft an insurance plan. With BA as coach he’s not going to want to draft one for the next coach. Licht isn’t going to want to either.

  41. Buc_U Says:

    Yes Jameis has bad moments and he probably has probably taken a few years off my life with his bad plays however the truth of the matter is had our defense played as good as last year as we are playing now nobody would be complaining about Jameis. But Buc_U Mariotta went to the playoffs…yep he sure did, with one of the best defenses in the league at the time. I like how that always gets left out. But Buc_U Jameis is a average to below average QB we cannot win with. Well I don’t see the falcons or the panthers winning but their QB’s are supposedly better than Jameis. Plus we have won with Jameis. He has had bad coaching since he has been in the NFL. Koetter ruined him for 4 years, now after 1 off season and 2 games he is supposed to be totally fixed. Jameis was consistent the last half of the 2018 season. He played damn well consistently. At least give him more than 2 games in a new system before you throw him out with the bath water. And let’s get something straight, does it really matter if We win games because of Jameis or the defense? Really? If you are saying that then I know you just hate Jameis because winning is winning regardless how it is done. The Bucs won a SB with the defense, nobody cared what the offense did as long as they didn’t lose us the game. Stop trippin

  42. ClodHopper Says:

    Jameis plays good enough when he isnt forced to throw a ton and stinks up the joint when he needs to carry the team.

    So he needs a good team around him so he’s not in the position to have to carry the team.

    When you pay him what the market will dictate you cant have a good team around him.

    This is not a QB you want to put big money into.

    He’s not a hero, so when he needs to be a hero it shows he’s really just a sidekick.

  43. ClodHopper Says:

    If the rest of the team plays like they have been, he’ll be decent this year. If we pay him the market price in the offseason, it will cost other players on the team making the team worse off and we go right back to 2018.

  44. FairMinded Says:

    Always been on team JW except for some of the odd field stupidity. But Mariota’s been to the playoffs and he just led his team in their opener to a massive blowout of a much hyped Cleveland team by throwing 3 TD’s with no int’s. The guy isn’t trash he’s living up to his potential mostly. I hope this is the season JW puts it all together and lives up to his. Very encouraged by this last game

  45. FairMinded Says:

    *off field stupidity

  46. SteelStudBuc Says:

    I was impressed with how he managed the game… we can’t be having 4 clunker games… unacceptable. If the other team plays harder, better… that’s acceptable… but tossing pick 6s and turnovers, that’s unacceptable… hes not worth $30 million… maybe 20-25 at the very most on a long term deal, but he ain’t no Russel Wilson… who wins playoff games and super bowl appearances. Only 2 games in… well see by London if this guy is it at QB moving forward. I don’t wanna see him fail but I’m prepared for it… who isn’t?

  47. Bculaw Says:

    This is week 2 into a new system, after he has been asked, for three of the last 4 seasons, to overcome the worst running game, defense, and kicking game in the NFL. Bottom line, he had to make the spectacular plays to win. When you are only trying to make those, you make a lot of bad plays trying to take more than you are given.

    He has to be reprogrammed. The recipe is simple – good defense, good running game, smart football while your young QB is learning how to be great. This SHOULD have been the recipe from the start, but the Bucs were so deficient everywhere else that it couldn’t afford to give JW time to develop. He had to be Aaron Rodgers year two, but we failed to realize that Aaron Rodgers, year 2, was 3 years older and in year 2 of a 3 year internship at QB where he got to watch. hOF’er from the bench.

    Lots are longing for the Bucs to start over at QB. Don’t you get it? They are!! They are taking things back to where they should have been in year 2 for JW – so they can reprogram and groom him.

  48. tickrdr Says:

    The defense held the Panthers without a single touchdown, and only gave up 12 points. Yet, the game was in doubt, with less than 2 mins in the 4th quarter? Cam Newton was a shell of himself, and HE may be the one to not finish out this year, if that sort of play continues.

    If you watched the MNF game, what odds would you give that Drew Brees could drive his team to FG range in 38 secs? Now, if the Panthers had scored a lead touchdown……………

    QOTD:
    What are the odds that our franchise QB would have led a game-winning drive?

    tickrdr

  49. Destinjohnny Says:

    Jameis is inconsistent for sure
    The one thing that is consistent is it’s the same story every year
    Not a bust not elite

  50. Bob in Valrico Says:

    BCULAW
    Sorry, but eventhough reprogramming a savior is a novel defense. Its just not cost effective at this stage of his career. There are too many bad habits that Jameis
    has picked up along way and hard to break habits like forcing balls and making bad decisions when the pressure is on.

  51. BucsBandit Says:

    The casual fans that think anyone criticizing Jameis is just a “hater” yet what they fail to insern

  52. BucsBandit Says:

    The casual fans that think anyone criticizing Jameis is just a “hater” yet what they fail to understand is MATH.

    If you want to keep inconsistent Jameis and sign him to a huge contract extension then you have to be willing to lose Chris Godwin AND Shaq or AND Suh. That extra $12M-$15M/year for Jameis has to come at the sacrifice of others due to the salary cap. We’d have to give up some combination of Bucs stars to keep Jameis.

    He’s just not worth it and that’s the point must of us fans critical of Jameis
    have been saying for a long time. If you’re not truly an elite QB you can’t be paid like one or the team is DOOMED. That’s just the way the salary cap works.

  53. July Joe Says:

    Warner knows what elite talent (Jameis) looks like compared to an average game-manager talent (Mariota) … too bad so many Bucs fans are clueless.

  54. July Joe Says:

    A new contract for Jameis is basically GUARANTEED if he ends the season healthy.

    Why?

    Because NONE of the (3) so-called 1st round college QBs are anywhere near as talented as him; it’s not even close.

    If Trevor Lawrence was available that would be different but Tua/Fromm/Herbert are all far less talented than Jameis.

    I expect Jameis at worst to receive the franchise tag in 2020, and at best, to receive a huge long-term extension.

  55. July Joe Says:

    I also disagree with Joe about Jameis being 1-1 on a good game, bad game scale … if not for holding penalty erasing Brates TD and his two “perfect (according to Arians)” passes that were picked due to his receivers mistakes, he would have had 2 TDs and a 27-16 lead with 3 mins left in the 49’ers game … and the team would have just been running clock and not throwing at all, which means no INT on the last drive,

    Jameis has played efficient winning football in both games and the team SHOULD BE 2-0 … Arians knows that and OJ Howard is in the dog house a little bit because of that imho.

  56. gobuxfla Says:

    For now I would rather JW manage games than manage to lose them.

  57. Anonymous Says:

    Jameis yet again verifies he is inconsistent, just not always awful. He often makes terrible decisions and he just didn’t happen to lose the game off them Thursday night. He missed wide open receivers again on key 3rd down trying to go for the gold. His game against CAR is the minimum expected of any starting QB, no matter whether elite or not. His game against SF is one not worthy of making a roster anywhere. There are more options out there other than drafting if the Bucs don’t who is available. IF that were the case, there is first choice of FA QB to be ab bridge. They will not franchise Jameis for a year (that will be about $35-40M). Not worth it. They sure as hell won’t sing him up for longer based on what they’ve seen this year. Only those sucking his arse would think he’s got anything good yet.

  58. mark2001 Says:

    As I’ve said…Jekyll…and Hyde.

  59. Anonymous Says:

    Jameis has played efficient winning football in both games and the team SHOULD BE 2-0

    OMG, that is unbelievably stupid. How much corn does this guy take in a day?

  60. Jim Says:

    Starting over with another QB would be a disaster. JW will figure things out. He now has a HC who is aligned with how JW plays. No riskit, no biskit. In a couple of seasons, maybe this season, we will be glad the Bucs had patience with him. If he gets a great O-line, he will look like the QB everyone thought he would be. Still has lots of upside potential. High ceiling for JW. Carry on…

  61. July Joe Says:

    @Anonymous,

    You’re calling Arians, not me, “stupid” as Arians said the two picks Jameis threw in the firtst game were “perfect” passes.

    Had those not been picks and the holding penalty not been called the Bucs would have been ahead 27-16 late in the 4th and running clock to close the game.

    JW has played efficient, winning football and the Bucs should be 2-0 …

  62. Brandon Says:

    Look at history. it takes no less than 6 regular season games for an offense to really start clicking with a new offensive system and coordinator. if we can make it until the bye week, we should be fine.